1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to shoe lacing or strapping system, particularly a shoe lacing system employing a lace or strap with an improved fastener means.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Shoe lacing systems have traditionally consisted of a single detachable shoe lace which is laced in shoe such that the mid-part of the length of a shoe lace is laced through eyelets or hooks near the front toe area (vamp) of the shoe. The two free and working ends of the shoe lace are passed through a series of eyelets located along the longitudinal line of the lacing area of the shoe, and are normally tied in a bow knot to draw the lacing area of the shoe together, and thereby fit the shoe to the wearer's foot.
While traditional lacing systems have served the general wearer well, there are inherent problems with this conventional system. First, two hands and manual dexterity are required to adjust and tie the laces, making the conventional lacing system difficult to use for the very young, those with dexterity problems, or those who have only one available hand. Also, since the conventional shoe laces criss-cross, the criss-crossed laces sometimes tend to bind up with each other, and manual adjustment of the lace tension between pairs of opposite eyelets positioned on the lacing area may be necessary. Bow knots can frequently come undone.
There have attempts to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional shoe lace systems. U.S. Pat. Nos. 864,774 to Dumke, 5,016,327 to Klausner and, 3,683,520 to Partagas disclose various lacing systems for boots and high ankle shoes wherein a flat elongate lacing strap or round lace is arranged with one end immobilized near the vamp area of the shoe, leaving a single free working end to be laced through the other eyelets, and then engaged at the upper ankle portion of the boot or high ankle shoe.
In the Dumke lace system, the lower end of the strap near the vamp is permanently fixed thereto, and the single free, working end of the lacing strap has one or more slits which are adapted to engage with one or more buttons provided on the upper extremity of the ankle portion of the boot. Alternatively, a single slit, formed in the end of the strap, with an interposed adjustment clasp and loop, can be used to adjust the tension of the strap when the slit is engaged with a single button on the upper extremity of the ankle portion of the boot. The formation of slit(s) in the lacing strap is a point of weakness in the lacing system.
In the Klausner system, the lower end of the lace strap is detachably fixed at the vamp of the boot, and its free, working end has hook and loop material attached thereto for engagement with complementary hook and loop material positioned on the upper region of the ankle portion of the boot.
Partagas discloses a safety shoe lace system for baby boots, wherein the shoe lace is permanently fixed at either its lower end to the vamp of the shoe, or at its upper end, to the uppermost eyelet of the lacing area, and has a relatively enlarged spherical member affixed to its free, working end, to prevent it from being drawn through the eyelets. The free, working end will in turn be engaged with a securing hook, located at the vamp, or at the upper region of the ankle portion of the boot to adjust the shoe to the wearer's foot.
Despite considerable efforts, the prior attempts at creating a shoe lacing system for single hand closure and having a single, reliable and precise adjustment means have not been totally successful, and, in fact, have drawbacks of their own. For example, in Dumke, the lace adjustment means inherently requires a weakening of the straps; the multiple hook and eye engagement means of the Klausner lacing system are readily separable--i.e., do not provide a positive locking means. Similarly, the Partagas locking structure, while perhaps sufficient for the purpose of a baby boot, does not offer a sufficient positive lock against greater tension exerted by children and adults.
Also, in the Partagas system, the problem of taking up the slack of the shoe lace and engaging the free working end of the lace is solved by providing a securing hook, around which the lace can be wrapped many times, and thereby secured. Such a securing hook, it is noted, would preferably be provided with a cover. However, this arrangement would be wholly inapplicable for use with a lace strap.
Accordingly, there remains a need for a simple and economical shoe lacing system that (1) is readily and precisely adjustable by an adjustment means, (2) has a first locking means to positively lock the adjustment means in the precisely adjusted position of the lacing strap, and (3) has a second locking means for positive locking of the adjusted lacing strap.
The applicant is aware of buckles, in general, having an adjustment means combined with a hook and eye locking member (e.g., see Guenther U.S. Pat. No. 1,718,291) but is not aware of a locking and adjustment means for a shoe lacing system as is here in described and claimed.